China strives for global stability, prosperity(2)

Promoter of peace

Holding high the banner of peace, development and win-win cooperation, New China, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, pursues the path of peaceful development, fosters friendship and cooperation with all countries, and promotes common development across the world.

The Tian'anmen Rostrum at the center of Beijing, the symbol of the PRC, is adorned with the monumental inscription "Long Live the Great Unity of the Peoples of the World", a profound message reflecting the nation's global vision for international peace and harmony.

The inscription, remaining there since 1950, the year following the founding of New China, remains highly relevant in a world which is riven with divisions, conflicts and wars.

Carrying forward the spirit of this iconic inscription, Xi's vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind offers a beacon of hope for peaceful coexistence and shared development amid global disorder and conflicts.

Yasir Habib Khan, president of the Institute of International Relations &Media Research in Pakistan, said that China's peaceful diplomacy is taking center stage in the international arena as Beijing has made strenuous efforts to restore peace and stability in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and other parts of the world.

When the Cold War was at its peak in the 1950s, Chinese wisdom, rooted in centuries of a peaceful civilization, came up with the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, namely mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual nonaggression, noninterference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence, Khan said.

"Today the Chinese leadership has reinvigorated these values at a defining moment when a new Cold War is rearing its ugly head," he said.

"The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind is the most effective move to sustain, promote and upgrade the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in the new circumstances."

Owing to its universal appeal, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, which has been the bedrock of China's independent foreign policy of peace and incorporated into the nation's Constitution, offers global insight into how developed and developing countries can live together.

Among the world's major countries, China has the best track record with respect to peace and security.

With a Chinese approach to resolving hot spot issues, the path of impartiality and peaceful diplomacy, which is consistently pursued by China, stands out in today's world as Beijing takes an active role in mediating conflicts and promoting dialogue to achieve peace.

It has been playing a constructive role in the Ukraine crisis, the Palestine-Israel conflict, and issues relating to the Korean Peninsula, Iran, Myanmar and Afghanistan.

With regard to the Palestinian question, the Beijing Declaration signed by 14 Palestinian factions in Beijing on July 23 to end division and strengthen unity has made China a focal point of global diplomacy.

The signing of the declaration was a crucial step toward resolving the Palestinian question and achieving peace and stability in the Middle East. It was also the first time that an internal Palestinian reconciliation document has been agreed with the decisive help of a country outside the Arab world.

In another development, after years of open hostility, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed on March 10 to restore diplomatic ties after talks facilitated by China, a significant development for the two nations and a boon to the security and stability of the Middle East.

Analysts praised China for its role as a peace broker and its efforts to facilitate dialogue. This also showed that China's diplomatic philosophy that aims to promote peace and development is much more appealing than some other countries' tactics of fueling confrontation to expand their own interests in the Gulf region, they said.

"China's impartial stance, free from selfish motives or interests, has garnered increasing trust from the international community," Khan said.

In April 2022, Xi proposed the Global Security Initiative, which advocates a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, follows the philosophy that humanity is an indivisible security community, and aims to create a new path to security that features dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance and win-win over zero-sum.

Currently, China is a major troop contributor and the second-largest financial contributor to United Nations peacekeeping operations.

In the Report to the 20th CPC National Congress in October 2022, Xi said that in pursuing modernization, China will not tread the old path of war, colonization and plunder, which has been taken by some countries.

"Dedicated to peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, we will strive to safeguard world peace and development as we pursue our own development, and we will make greater contributions to world peace and development through our own development," he said.